RB's Kitchen

For the 4th Sunday Supper we got in touch with the South for a SOUL FOOD themed evening. About a month ago I was working to help to save The Pink Tea Cup from closing, a 55 yr old soul food restaurant around the corner from my apartment. Through the hard work of many it will live on, and I was inspired by the passion and dedication of everyone I met there. And the food of course! Many found this theme to be a challenge, but in the end the hits just kept on coming, and truly this was one of the most incredible feasts I have ever experienced!!

THE MENU

Becca & Ryan: Biscuits

Jana & Levi: cornbread, garlicky collard greens
Ben: Pulled pork, pickles, wonder bread
Nick: Pork Belly
Stephanie: Jerk chicken
Me: Chicken liver & onions
Jaime & Matt: Black eyed pea fritters, creole tempeh
Josh & Candice: Maple baked beans
Miles: Jerk tofu
Allison: Mac n Cheese
Romy & Jesse: Cheese grits
Julia: Spicy green beans
Melinda: Succotash
Laura: Potato Salad

Allison & Diego: baked mashed sweet potatoes
Arin & Steve: Chocolate chip walnut cookie
Eve & Greg: Banana Pudding
Cali: Hard cider, beer
James & Heather: wine
Laura & Jason: beer

Also in attendance was a very special guest - Captain Blankenship!


My nautically dressed friend came across the country with her amazing all-natural and organic perfumes, soaps, bath salts and balms. These delicious handcrafted goods are made in small batches in her kitchen in Berkeley California, so it was a real treat for those of us here in NYC to sample and acquire them!!

I am continually blown away by the way these evenings. The look on Laura and Nick's faces above says it all. These "suppers" are about so much more than just the food itself. The dishes are exceptional, and I strongly believe that's because so much thought, consideration and love has gone into them. And because they are created with the intention of being shared. Food is powerful in this way, for it's remarkable ability to bring people together, and sometimes in the most unexpected of ways. Some people come to these suppers who I have never met, some come knowing no one else but me - but at the end of the night we have all made new friends, or bonded with ones we haven't seen in years, and all look forward to coming together again to share in each others lives.

A soulful and soul fulfilling night in countless ways.

the feastival of lights

another sunday - another successful supper!

in honor of hannukah, this was a celebration of all foods jewish. i challenged everyone to do their bubbe's proud - even if they weren't sure what 'bubbe' meant. i took on the challenge very with a big, beautiful brisket from florence 5, (one of the best butchers in NYC and lucky for me just one block away.) i braised it the night before, because, like with so many jewish dishes, it's even better after letting it sit overnight.

while it reheated i prepped the apartment

cessie looked on as people arrived with an endless stream of delectable dishes to snack on:

lemony leek cakes (serena), smoked salmon, pickles and herring (lucas), cheeses (max), baguettes and proscuitto (piet and sophia), hummus and pita (melissa) - and to accompany the meal lots of lovely wines and beers, (thank you ceren, joel, will and josiah) and two giant bottles of manishewitz (nick...)

once everyone had arrived it was time to light the candles and sing...

and at last dinner was served!

on the menu: brisket (me), grandma mickey's noodle kugel (allison k), carrot souffle (sara), baked chicken (sharon), challah (candace and josh), "kosher" crab rangoon (kate and jason), a torta, (piet and sophia), homemade many-grains bread (cassidy), and of course no hannukah would be complete without latkes (allison a), and loads of them! accompanied of course with sour cream and apple sauce (nick and laura)

even after all that feasting we were not done! and were onto dessert:

apricot-chocolate rugelach (serena)

toffee-chocolate-almond matozh (candace)

and a fabulous assortments of varsano's chocolates!! (todd)

it was a truly joyous evening, better than i could have hoped for and exactly what the holidays are all about - celebrating with good music, great food, and the best of friends... and cessie!

wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year!

xoxoxo

the fabulous fifties!

round two!

growing up i was thoroughly enchanted by the '50s. i think it had a lot to do knowing that it's when my mom grew up, and i loved "grease" and "happy days" and got into the music and the outfits - for halloween i'd dress up in poodle skirts... a 50s themed party had been in the back of my mind for years and this was the perfect opportunity!

i didn't go for the poodle skirt or even a cocktail dress, felt my best "costume" was a floral apron, went with my very newly died brown hair...

while nick was in the other room watching the Pats kill it!, i whipped up some mini leek and mushroom fritattas - and used the leftover sauteed veggies to make a spread for toast! all about the bite size:


and then i made a tuna salad with white beans and - of course - raisins:

jay and jeanne arrived with oscar in tow! who was 100% the life of the party. they also brought along some killer punch with a homemade sour mix!! and a fruit mold! it don't get much more fifties than that :)




my recently returned to the building neighbor allison DID wear a cocktail dress and pleased everyone thoroughly with her dates stuffed with almonds, wrapped in bacon and broiled. she also felt that a cherry liquor would be right in theme.
serena brought along some friends - jason and kate who lives just down the block!! they brought a few lovely bottles of wine and that led us right into dinner time:


owen and sharon brought an incredible souffle, nick finally got to cooking and did us all proud with some truly tasty pork with a special secret sauce and also fried up some chicken. heck to the yeah! james' bottle of aperol went amazingly well with it all...

everyone chatted away as chuck berry, elvis presley, leslie gore, the platters, jerry lee lewis and so many more classics blasted away on the juke box!!

and then it was just about time for dessert.
i made my mom's FAVORITE dessert growing up - ice cream pie! as allison said, all my favorite words together... this entails mashing up corn flakes (i used organic multi-grain flax flakes) with melted chocolate, forming this into the shape of a pie pan and freezing it to form the crust. then filling with vanilla ice cream (i used alden's, from OR, in-SANE ly delicious) and topping with some chocolate shavings.
went fabulously with julia and igor's apple graham betty and serena's coconut bars!


golly gee it sure was a swell time!!